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The Distance

When: Thursdays-Sundays. Continues through June 26 2016Price: $28, $14 students and seniors

In this searing transcontinental domestic drama by Deborah Bruce, Bea, the mother of two young boys, leaves her husband and family behind in Australia and, for reasons unknown, flies to her sister's home in England, where she blocks their attempts to communicate with her. There, along with the audience, Bea's extended family and friends struggle to reconcile their empathy for her, an autonomous adult pursuing her own dreams, with their horror and resentment over the heartbreak she's caused. "This is cruel, you know," the abandoned father tells Bea (brilliantly played by Abigail Boucher) over Skype. It is, and Haven Theatre's remarkable production, directed by Elly Green, shows the unforgiving ripple effect of that cruelty on everyone involved. —Dan Jakes